IAFPE held its Entrepreneurship and Public Policy and Internship Awards Luncheon on June 26 at the Westin Waltham. There were more than 75 people in attendance.  

The meeting kicked off with Ms. Archana Vahalia welcoming the attendees and Sanjay Kaul , Chair Internship Committee, recognizing the five 2011 Summer Interns. They are:

Meghna Aggarwal:    Meghna is a Senior at the Advanced Math and Science Academy Charter School in Marlborough, MA. She is a member of the National Honors Society, is active with American Red Cross and Kumon Learning Center, and a competitive figure skater. Her career interests are Political Science and Law. Meghna is interning at the office of Sen. James Eldridge.

Saatvik Ahluwalia:   Saatvik is a Senior at Boston University majoring in International Relations. He is the Captain and Choreographer of Boston’s University Jalwa. He has been a speaker at two International Conferences. His career interests are Developmental Organizations, State Department and Foreign Policy. Saatvik is interning at the office of Rep. Jay Kaufman.

Vidur Khatri:   Vidur is a Sophomore at Georgetown University majoring in Finance/International Business and Government. He was selected for Bentley Tomorrow 25 in conjunction with Time Magazine and is the Founder and CEO of Books for Less. His career interests are Consulting, Banking and Political Economy. Vidur is interning at the office of Rep. Bill Galvin.

Hima Nannapaneni:   Hima is a Junior at Emory University majoring in Economics and Journalism. She is the Co-Founder of Partnership for the Advancement of Learning and Captain of Varsity Tennis Team. Her career interests are Policy Making, Law and Business. Hima is interning at the office of Sen. James Eldridge.

Ayan Purkayastha:   Ayan is a Sophomore at Bucknell University majoring in International Relations and Biology. He is a member of Alpha Lambda Delta Honor Society and Captain of the Student Congress team for Speech and Debate. His career interest is Law. Ayan is interning at the office of Sen. Michael Knapik.

This was followed by a Panel Discussion on Entrepreneurship and Public Policy. The panelist included Mr.  Greg Bialecki, Secretary of Economic Development and Housing, Commonwealth of Massachusetts; Prof. Bill Kerr, Harvard Business School; and Mr. Jit Saxena, Founder and Ex-CEO, Netezza. The panel was moderated by Mr. Vinit Nijhawan, Managing Director, Office of Technology Development and Director of Enterprise Programs, ITEC, Boston University.

“Massachusetts is the land for STEM – Science, Technology, Entrepreneurship and Management/Medicine. MIT is #1 in patents issued and Harvard University is #1 in publications,” said Nijhawan. According to Kerr, “The contribution of MA and CA to the US economy in terms of percentage of US patents issued and immigrant contribution was nearly same in 1984. While the contribution of MA has remained relatively constant between 1984 and today, the contribution of CA has nearly tripled. Public policy and entrepreneurship is not a zero sum game and can be net positive. There are 3 views about them. First, it is all chance and serendipity. Second, build a dream and it will happen. Finally, government should play and active role. States which had a mere 10% higher focus on entrepreneurship had an overall 8% higher growth rate.”

“Entrepreneurship is the solution to all our problems. Entrepreneurship – the energy that it creates results in many good things. Instead of just focusing on the market value, one should look at entrepreneurship in the context of the life it enriches, the jobs it creates and the community effect. Finally, the best part of entrepreneurship is yet to come,” says Saxena. “Everybody is willing to help but you have to ask first,” says Bialecki.

Overall, for the state to flourish and to attract young entrepreneurs, it is necessary to Collaborate – Provide Affordable Housing – Have Night Life and Entertainment – and Access to Capital.

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